A brief outlook on The Indian textile industryAt a broader level Indian Textile Industry can be divided into two categories: Organized and Unorganized.Despite India being an emerging economy, the Indian Textile Industry is largely unorganized and still relies largely on traditional means in cloth manufacturing and is also highly labor intensive in nature. The clothes are produced with the help of hands via weaving and spinning methods.The remaining half of the industry is very much organized with high importance endowed on capital intensive production processes. The sector depends on sophisticated mills by way of which technologically superior machines are utilized for mass production of textile products.Further classification of Indian Textile Industry• Textile industry employing fiber derived from man made means or natural cotton.
• Yarn industry using fiber or filament, similar to the man made variety
• Textile industry centered on production of wool, its offshoots and woolen products.
• Textile industry based on production and processing of Jute.
• Textile industry centered on mass production of natural silk and final products from silk
• Handloom Industry
• Handicrafts industry which is primarily unorganized in natureThe textile industry employing fiber derived from man made means or natural cotton.This sector is looked upon as the largest producer of textile products. In terms of employment opportunities, the sector employs maximum number of people in the entire industry which is said to be around a mind-boggling one million workers. According to the latest estimates by Ministry of Textiles, the total number of mills in this particular sector stood at 1818 in number. The total capacity of all these mills total to* 35.37 million spindles and * 0.45 million rotors In between April -December 2009, the production of cloth made from man-made fibre accelerated by 21.3 percent.Spun Yarn industry can further be segregated into two sub-sectors:-• Cotton Yarn Manufacturing industry: The production is directly related to the production of cotton on year-on-year basis, whose production in turn largely depends on the vagaries of nature. Therefore it is widely observed that the rate of production in this sector, more often than not fluctuates.• Non cotton yarn producing industryThe industry is growing at an unprecedented speed for the rate of production in this sector has accelerated on a consistent basis. The period between 1999 and 2005, the capacity of this sector increased between 80 and 93 percent.Organized sector is going through a rough patch and the reason cited being the tweaking of the structural set-up. Of late the weaving sector has been separated from the spinning sector causing the rise of powerlooms of decentralized nature. In the recent years the production capacity of the organized sector plummeted by 0.54 lakh between March 2000 and January 2007.Nonetheless, the organized sector seems to be fairing better than unorganized one with a yearly growth rate of almost 5.4 percent.Yarn industry utilizing fiber or filament can be divided into two divisions:-• Industry type consisting production of cellulosic fibers or filaments
• Industry type consisting production of non-cellulosic fibers or filamentsTextile industry centered on production of wool, its offshoots and woolen products.• Its export oriented
• Production base is mainly located in the rural areas
• Both organized as well as non-organized units dominate this sector.India’s contributes nearly 1.8 percent of total production of wool in the world. This sector is known for its high employment generation capacity. By 2006, twenty seven lakh workers were working in this sector. At a broader level, the total raw wool production in India can be segregated into three major grades:-• Carpet Grade comprising 85% of the total raw wool production
• Coarse Grade comprising 10% of the total raw wool production
• Apparel Grade comprising 5% of the total raw wool productionNonetheless, it has been found that the demand for raw wool in India is more than the output; hence large part of the local demand is met through import of raw wool. Wool is said to be the only natural fibre in which the country has not yet achieved self-sufficiency.The sector also attracts foreign exchange earning from export of woolen products.At present there are 958 woolen units in the country, the majority of which fall in the small scale sectorSome of the exclusive items used in the production of wool fiber in India include: Pasmina and Angora.Textile industry based on the production and processing of Jute.Significant part of Eastern India is into production and processing of Jute, West Bengal in particular. Nearly 4 million farm families depend on it. The industry provides direct employment opportunities to 2.6 lakh industrial workers and another 1.4 lakh people in the allied sectors. In the world market, the contribution of this industry is noteworthy. The export earnings from the sector stand at Rs.1200 crore. In export of final jute products, India bags second position in the entire world. Besides, revenue also comes from government and private orders for packaging purposes.The special features of Jute:-• Natural Fiber
• Biodegradable product
• The fibers can be renewed after use
• Eco-friendly in natureIn India, Raw Jute is manufactured in the following states:-• West Bengal
• Assam
• Bihar
• Andhra Pradesh
• Meghalaya
• Orissa
• TripuraThe total production of raw jute in India is almost 90 to 100 lakh bales. The industry gets good support from the government. The crucial support comes in the form of Minimum Support Price. The support price increased from Rs.910 to Rs.1000Textile industry centered on mass production of natural silk and final products from silkIndia is leading producer of silk in the world, second largest producer to be precise. Of the four varieties produced, Mulberry accounts for 88.7 percent, Eri account for 8.4 percent, Tasar 3.8 and Muga silk 0.6 percent. Its contribution to the total world production of silk is about 18 percent.The rearing and breeding of silk worms as well as the production of raw silk are known as Sericulture. The industry is considered as one of the top cottage industries in India. Over fifty thousand villagers are into silk production. One of the most remarkable aspects of this industry is its labor -intensiveness.The different people involved in Sericulture include:-• The workers who produce silkworm seeds
• Farmers who rear the silkworms
• Workers who are into reeling
• Workers who are into twisting the silk
• Workers who weave the silk
• Workers who spin of silk waste
• Dealers of SilkThe significance of Silk Industry can be outlined as follows:-• Fewer Investments required.
• Return on investment quite high
• Nearly 6 million people employed in this industry.In 2004-05, the amount of silk produced stood at sixteen thousand and five hundred metric tones which scaled up to seventeen thousand and three hundred five metric tones during 2005-06. The foreign exchange earned by the industry in 2005-06 was Rs.3158.16 crore.The silk export items of India include:-• Fabrics
• Waste of silk
• Carpets made up of silkHandloom IndustryHandloom industry occupies second position in terms of livelihood after agriculture. Over the years, this sector’s production has increasedDisadvantages linked to Handloom Industry in India• Technology is outdated
• Production system not organized
• The turnaround is relatively low
• Working capital for this industry is pretty low
• Marketing aspects is almost zero
• Innovation is significantly low.Handicraft industry:Handicraft industry is one of the most traditional industries in India.Special features of this industry include:• Capital requirement is reasonably low
• Provides employment opportunities to large number of people.
• Most of the handicraft items are exported; thereby help earn foreign exchange for the artisans and the country.Nearly 63.81 lakh people were employed by this sector.The total number of people employed in this industry amounts to 63.81 lakhs.